Encouraged by the success she had booking two local bands at last year’s South By South West, San Jose-based promoter Barbara Wahli—better known as Barb Rocks—is upping the ante this year, throwing her very own showcase at the yearly music, technology and film festival.

She’s calling her showcase Ugly Whale. The name is an homage to her recently passed father, Ueli Wahli, whose name was consistently autocorrected to “Ugly Whale” in Microsoft Word and other word processing programs—a phenomenon he good-naturedly embraced. She has already locked down Darwin’s Pub, a 300-seat venue in a prime location in downtown Austin, and she’s launched a Kickstarter to raise the $3,500 booking fee. All donations inch Barbara closer to giving five exceptional Bay Area bands the national exposure they deserve.

Wahli has long been a champion of the Bay Area scene (and the South Bay scene in particular). She’s been bustin’ down doors for local bands for years. In the last five, Wahli’s hand has guided the efforts of several festivals including the Santa Cruz Music Festival and Left Coast Live. And she recently started a local chapter of Balanced Breakfast—a weekly local music industry meeting aimed at bolstering the local scene.

Check out the video for her Kickstarter campaign and get acquainted with the delegation of Bay Area bands she plans to bring out to Texas next month:

The Trims are one of San Jose’s hottest bands at the moment. Sporting spacious guitar riffs, new wave/disco rhythm, and brain-burrowing hooks, their work has been featured on MTV’s The Real World, they’ve caught the ear of Live 105’s Aaron Axelsen, and they’re booked to play Bottlerock 2015.

Eyes on the Shore are an exceptionally stylish quartet that land somewhere between Motown, surf rock and post-modernist ambience. One moment, they power through heavy melodies, the next, they dive into a spectral, airy soundscape.

The Frail are an electro-pop group that found each on craigslist and incorporate elements of soulful lyrics, buzzy synth melodies, and soaring guitar to create a mature, and thoroughly modern identity.

The Go Ahead started out as Jesús and the Rabbis, an improvisational, funky jam band, but after adding lead singer Kyna Wise, a couchsurfing San Francisco roomate, their funk roots have grounded their growth into more of a classic rock band.

Beautiful Machines employ custom drum and keyboard kits infused with a bounty of sounds to create their harmonious, ethereal, and futuristic electro pop jams. They belong to a rare class of electronic groups whose prowess is most on display during live performances

Barbara Wahli has a talent for turning her birthday into an event. A few years ago, the South Bay “Barb Rocks” promoter had the tables turned on her when one of the bands she had booked, Point Three, figured out she knew the words to Dramarama’s “Anything Anything,” which they covered. They made her sing it when they played it on stage, and instantly a birthday tradition was born.

The next year, Death Valley High got her to sing a Joan-Jett-inspired cover of “Crimson and Clover” that went straight into “Bad Reputation.” The next, Golden Hour convinced her to sing Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.”

This year, her birthday show—tonight at Britannia Arms Cupertino—will take things one step further, however. This time one of the bands, the Trash Pop Icons, have actually written a song about her, “Barb on the Rocks,” which they’ll debut at the show. As for her now-traditional performance, she had decided not to do it this year, but then Mike Duell of the Driftwood Sin (and formely of Undergone) asked her to do an acoustic number. She actually got as far as picking one out, but whether it happens or not will be a game-time decision as they have had a hard time finding a moment to practice it.

One of the things Wahli is most excited about is that this show will also double as the CD release show for local band Cadent.

“I’ve been waiting for that Tabula Rasa CD for over a year now!” says Wahli.

The band will also debut the video for their single “Like Tonight” at the show. Cadent’s bass player Nate Skelton is also in the band Manjo and the Bandolins, who will also perform, along with a reunited Far From You.

“In general, I’m just excited about celebrating my birthday with great friends, doing what I love most,” says Wahli, “which is be around good live music.”

The BARB ROCKS BIRTHDAY BASH will be held Saturday, June 30 at Britannia Arms Cupertino, 9pm; $5.